Having established that Penn State's offensive line and special teams are mediocre to awful, let's take a look at the coaching performance Saturday night in the 21-10 loss to Iowa. {The loss, by the way, dropped Penn State to 13th in the USA Today/Coaches poll and 15th in the Associated Press poll. Hard to believe that the Lions are still ranked ahead of Iowa in the coaches poll.) Back to the coaching critique:

-- Lions had a great call on their first play from scrimmage, the touchdown bomb to Chaz Powell. They must have seen something about how Iowa's safety bites on the play-action.

-- Lions also had some very good play calls on their 20-play drive that resulted in a field goal.

-- Penn State made some nice blitz calls in the second half to finally get to the Iowa quarterback. Lions even used a cornerback on the blitz, and that worked at least once. It is rare to see a cornerback blitz out of defensive coordinator Tom Bradley.

As for the suspect coaching by Penn State on Saturday night:

-- Lion coaches were unable to come up with alternatives to work against the Iowa pressure on Daryll Clark. Why didn't he roll out, with the running back chipping the defensive end to help the beleaguered offensive tackle? Why didn't Clark run more on the edge on designed plays, with blockers in front of him?

-- Lions wasted a time out at the top of the second half. Just inexcusable. Just should not happen.

-- What is Nick Sukay, a safety, doing as a blocker on special teams for the punter? He's a safety, not a fullback who would be experienced at blocking. Plus, Sukay is small, and he was easilyy bulldozed over by the Iowa lineman who blocked the fourth-quarter punt for the game-changing and game-winning Hawkeye touchdown.

-- Why did Penn State allow Collin Wagner to try a 48-yard field goal when he doesn't have the leg to get it there in the cold and rain and wind? That miss cost Penn State valuable field position. Coaches should not have let him try that field goal. Should have punted to pin Iowa deep. And coaches should be looking for another field goal kicker. Give one of the two freshmen a chance. At the least, they should be given a chance to kick off.

-- Why wasn't tight end Andrew Quarless utilized more?

-- Can't really blame the defense for the loss. But coaches still haven't resolved the problem of being very vulnerable to the pass over the middle, both short and deep.

MORE ON THE GAME, EVEN AS I TRY TO FORGET IT ...

-- Evan Royster's fumble late in the fourth quarter was very costly. He also possibly could have caught a high Daryll Clark pass over the middle earlier in the fourth quarter. Instead, the ball clanged off his hands and was intercepted, a turnover that resulted in Iowa's only offensive TD.

-- Lion wideouts are back to being a huge question mark. Even when Clark had time, which was rare, most times nobody was open. That could have been from poor footing in the rain, or it could just be they aren't very good against good secondaries. We'll find out even more next week, on the road, at Illinois. (I do like Derek Moye, however.)

-- It is very troubling that Penn State's front four had trouble on its own getting to the Iowa QB.

-- These night games are bad for the fan's heart. It's all you think about all day and you can't get much done, as you're nervous as hell. Just play the damn game at noon or 3:30 and get it the hell over with. The suspense is just too much.

-- The officials had some bad calls. Derek Moye was robbed of a catch in the first half. Refs also fell for the dive taken by the Iowa punter in the first half. That was a very marginal call. Nick Sukay, the Penn State player called for the penalty, was blocked to the ground at the foot of the punter, and the punter did a nice acting job by falling down. Not sure if it matters if someone is blocked into the punter, but if it does matter, that clearly was no penalty. On the other hand, what the hell was Sukay doing pressuring the punter? Why risk it in that situation, when all the Lions wanted was the ball with about two minutes left in the first half?

-- Officials also missed a late hit by an Iowa lineman on Chaz Powell. And they missed a pass interference that an Iowa defender committed on Lion wideout Devon Smith.

-- To be fair, Penn State's O-line probably committed more holding penalties than were called. And, to be clear, the better team -- certainly the better-coached team -- won Saturday night.

NOW WHAT?

Much like after Penn State lost its only Big Ten game in 2005 and 2008, we could say that the season is not over, that winning out probably means a share of the Big Ttitle and a BCS bowl. But those '05 and '08 teams had better offensive lines.

Looking at the schedule, losses are in play vs. Ohio State and Michigan, to be sure. And winning on the road at Illinois and Michigan State remains a questin mark even those two teams have fared poorly so far. Even the Northwestern road game isn't an automatic any more.

Current Comments

I have rarely seen a PS Off line totally dominated as it was by Iowa. Clark seems to lose his cool when pressured. Also, I think he holds the ball too long. When JoePa retires, I hope they replace the entire offensive staff.